{"id":17846,"date":"2014-09-22T00:04:14","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T23:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/?p=17846"},"modified":"2016-12-31T16:46:22","modified_gmt":"2016-12-31T15:46:22","slug":"the-mad-blog-awards-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/09\/22\/the-mad-blog-awards-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"The MAD Blog Awards 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The MAD Blog Awards 2014. What an amazing and inspirational night. I got to meet and mingle with the top bloggers. In fact there were only 75 finalists out of 6,500 nominated. It was great to see some of the bloggers I have really get to know, and follow receive some much deserved awards, whilst making new blogging friends and meeting people I had only ever spoken to online. Special thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mummyfromtheheart.com\/\">Michelle Pannell<\/a>\u00a0for giving me her hotel room, I am really sorry she could not make it but very grateful for the bed for the night. The EasyHotel was actually a really short walk away and so no taxis were even required.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17852\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?resize=300%2C225\" alt=\"The MAD Blog Awards 2014\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The venue, The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London, was amazing &#8211; even the toilets were posh! After a quick hug from Liz Weston (who was sober all night but such a laugh) I head for the lift for the lower ground. As luck would have it there I found <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theradfordfamily.co.uk\/\">Sue Radford and Noel Radford<\/a>. I am actually rather amazed that they are just as they appear on the television &#8211; and by that I mean a nice, genuine, kind, and loving couple.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/pinkoddy-and-radfords.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17853\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/pinkoddy-and-radfords.jpg?resize=300%2C300\" alt=\"Sue Radford and Noel Radford with Pinkoddy \" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/pinkoddy-and-radfords.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/pinkoddy-and-radfords.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/pinkoddy-and-radfords.jpg?w=600&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then I was lucky enough to have a hair and make-up appointment. The ladies (@powderpuffgirls) were very good, and patient as there were a lot of women waiting to have theirs done. I then dashed back to my hotel to slip into my dress. Having read MumofthreeWorld\u2019s post earlier that morning I had decided to ditch the clutch handbag and go with the one that went on my back (in completely the wrong colour) and to take my crocs (actually I took my heels and carried them in a bag until I got there). As we entered we were ticked off a list, given a lollipop, a token for an after dinner drink, and a stick for our goody bags. Then people were having photos with friends. This is when the lovely Liz Weston made sure I didn\u2019t look a billy no mates and had a piccie with me (the first of the nights thanks to Liz).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/liz_weston.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17857\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/liz_weston.jpg?resize=119%2C300\" alt=\"Mad Blog Awards 2014 Liz Weston\" width=\"119\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/liz_weston.jpg?resize=119%2C300&amp;ssl=1 119w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/liz_weston.jpg?w=238&amp;ssl=1 238w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 119px) 100vw, 119px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then we all gathered in the lobby and were handed drinks. There was a big operation game (erm apparently), and Pikachu was walking around. There were photo opportunities with Dr Ranj and then we went into dinner. We sat where we were according to the plan, which allowed for me to sit with people I hadn\u2019t met before. I sat next to Sian from <a href=\"http:\/\/pottymouthedmummy.com\/\">Pottymouthedmummy<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; who immediately made me felt welcome. Then the sponsor of the craft category <a href=\"http:\/\/www.craftmerrily.co.uk\/\">Merry<\/a> sat the other side of me. I think the latter thought I was a little crazy taking photos of my food &#8211; and erm, well the pictures didn&#8217;t even turn out that well. We had an amazing dinner, with fantastic service. There were so many inspiring bloggers there and it was fantastic to meet people for the first time. Too many to mention but special mention to <a href=\"http:\/\/gammonandchips.com\/\">Maddie<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/eatsamazing.co.uk\/\">Grace<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Then on to the awards superbly hosted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drranj.com\/\">Dr Ranj<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MAD Blog of the Year:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefuturesrosie.com\/\">The Future\u2019s Rosie<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Blog Writer:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefuturesrosie.com\/\">The Future\u2019s Rosie<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Baby Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mummydaddyandmemakesthree.co.uk\/\">Mummy Daddy and Me Makes Three<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Pregnancy Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itstartedwithasquish.com\/\">It Started with a Squish<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Family Travel Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/kidsdaysoutreviews.co.uk\/\">Kids Days Out Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best New Blog: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dontbesorry.net\/wp\/\">Don&#8217;t be Sorry<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Outstanding Contribution:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/teamhonk.org\/\">Team Honk<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; this was an amazing category and there were so many inspirational finalists in this category.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Craft Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/littlebuttondiaries.com\/\">Little Button Diaries<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Food Blog<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frugalqueen.co.uk\/\">Frugal Queen<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Most Innovative Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/mytwomums.com\/\">My Two Mums<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/my_two_mums_mads_2014.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17855\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/my_two_mums_mads_2014.jpg?resize=279%2C300\" alt=\"Mad Blog Awards 2014\" width=\"279\" height=\"300\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Thrifty Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/skintdad.co.uk\/\">Skint Dad<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best School Days Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.actuallymummy.co.uk\/\">Actually Mummy<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; who is the most amazing person ever. Always there good times and bad. So supportive. Wish I had the words to make things better for her. She always has them for me when I am feeling down. You see her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.actuallymummy.co.uk\/2014\/09\/17\/it-never-rains-but-it-pours\/\">9 year old daughter has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes<\/a>, and she was not feeling herself. I am really pleased that she took the award home for her daughter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Most Entertaining Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.northernmum.com\/\">Northern Mum<\/a>\u00a00 then there&#8217;s Jane. Always so funny. Who else could command us all to sing Happy Birthday to her (I thought I was losing the plot as it was, in fact, the day after her Birthday). With such supportive words for Helen, who I know she has been a great comfort to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Photography Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/capturebylucy.com\/\">Capture by Lucy<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; an emotional evening, on collecting her award she said how touched she was over the blogging community&#8217;s support on the loss of her nephew Skye (you can still help in his memory<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blueskyethinking.org\/loom-to-the-moon\/\"> here<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best MAD Blog for Family Fun: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/familydaystriedandtestedblog.wordpress.com\/\">Family Days Tried and Tested<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Homes &amp; Interiors: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tigerlillyquinn.com\/\">Tigerlilly Quinn<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Kids Blog<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/legobyz.tumblr.com\/post\/87222199985\/favourite-way-to-spend-a-sunny-day\">Lego by Z<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/flower.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17849\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/flower.jpg?resize=300%2C147\" alt=\"MAD Blog Awards 2014\" width=\"300\" height=\"147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/flower.jpg?resize=300%2C147&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/flower.jpg?resize=768%2C377&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/flower.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then it was time for more drinking and dancing. The following morning I had a nice stroll around London with the lovely <a href=\"%20kidsdaysoutreviews.co.uk\">Kids Days Out Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to Sally and the team for all their hardwork and letting me go \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ohhh and the fabby gift bag:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some of my favourite bits:<\/p>\n<p>Bag &#8211; Parentdish<\/p>\n<p>Organic Chocolate buttons &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Hadleigh-Maid\/150618371711369?fref=ts\">Hadleigh-Maid<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hama beads (which we have never tried) and Loom Bands to further make our Loom to the Moon longer &#8211; Craft Merrily<\/p>\n<p>Kids Cereal and Fruit bites- @Follow_the_Bear<\/p>\n<p>and delighted to receive another E-Cloth glass cleaner from @eclothuk<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The MAD Blog Awards 2014. What an amazing and inspirational night. I got to meet and mingle with the top bloggers. In fact there were only 75 finalists out of 6,500 nominated. It was great to see some of the bloggers I have really get to know, and follow receive some much deserved awards, whilst &#8230; <a title=\"The MAD Blog Awards 2014\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/09\/22\/the-mad-blog-awards-2014\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about The MAD Blog Awards 2014\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2693],"tags":[3194,2933,3193,1960],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1",600,450,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1",600,450,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1",600,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1",600,450,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/royal_garden_hotel.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1",600,450,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"pinkoddy","author_link":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/author\/pinkoddy\/"},"uagb_comment_info":22,"uagb_excerpt":"The MAD Blog Awards 2014. What an amazing and inspirational night. I got to meet and mingle with the top bloggers. In fact there were only 75 finalists out of 6,500 nominated. It was great to see some of the bloggers I have really get to know, and follow receive some much deserved awards, whilst&hellip;","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pepM9j-4DQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}